Things continue to ramp up as the Christian County Public Schools System readies for the start of a new school year, as the school board heard an update on the reopening plan Thursday.
The board approved a student user agreement that includes language involving not downloading or deleting apps from the devices the district will provide, taking proper care of the Chromebook, not taking unauthorized photos of videos and when students come to school the device must be fully charged. In return, the district maintains right to monitor activity on the device, including internet usage and to discipline any actions that break the code of conduct. Insurance will be available for families to purchase for $23.
The hope is the devices will arrive either the last week in August or the first week of September. District Health Director Megan Kidd says they’ll be asking parents, students and staff to sign transparency agreements saying they will not come to school if they are sick or exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. She says the district will also send out a letter if a positive case occurs and any direct contacts would be contacted by the health department.
Superintendent Chris Bentzel says they’ll be watching closely on August 17 for what Governor Andy Beshear decides what will happen for schools, and he’ll be asking the board to follow whatever the governor’s recommendations are.
Approximately 2,400 students have enrolled in the Virtual Learning Academy.
The district has entered into a partnership with First Care Clinic to bring more testing to both the district and the community as a whole—it will be a drive-through type testing, and a patient can register on their website to form an appointment to get tested and speak with a doctor, and the clinic will be able to send the results to both the patient and the school where it’s needed. The agreement comes at no cost to the district and the test that is offered is a rapid test that gets results in approximately 20 minutes.